Benefits of Tea | Healthy Teas You Should Be Drinking

Share this page

If you are not a coffee drinker, tea may just be a great alternative for you if you’re into hot beverages and are looking for a drink to incorporate in your daily routine. In fact, tea has numerous health benefits associated with drinking a cup or two every now and then. Additionally, you can find countless types and brands of teas that can leave you wondering what each of them offers and if there are any health benefits or disadvantages to drinking tea. I will walk you through a few of types of teas, health benefits associated with drinking them and why everyone should drink a cup or three occasionally!

Healthy Teas

✓ Green Tea

You have probably heard about green tea and its benefits a million times already. Well, green tea has rightfully earned its place in health-related articles and posts due to the vast number of benefits that are, in fact, associated with regular drinking of this lightly green beverage. The compounds released from the green tea leaves after steeping in hot water (catechins) benefit nearly every organ in the human body. Some of the benefits include anti-obesity, anti-carcinogenic, cardioprotective and much more [1]. Green tea will have some positive effect on your body if you incorporating drinking a few cups occasionally so what are you waiting for?

✓ Black Tea

Black tea leaves have a dark color due to the oxidation during the processing. Black tea contains little more caffeine than other tea kinds, therefore, it probably wouldn’t be my favorite choice to drink before hitting the sheets. However, brewing a cup during the day to use the caffeine to your advantage is not a bad idea. If you need a little concentration boost quick and easy, black tea is an amazing alternative! The polyphenols and catechins found in black tea (and others) are basically natural antioxidants that will help your body in numerous ways when consumed regularly [2]. Although black tea may be little more bitter than fruity teas or a cup of green tea, its health benefits should be taken advantage of.

✓ Fruit Tea

If you enjoy fruity flavors in your favorite beverages or foods, fruit teas may the best option for you. Since fruit tea is basically a variety of dried and cut up fruit, whenever you steep fruit tea mixes and leaves in hot water, many antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals are released to transform your hot water in a cup to a health benefiting power blast! Fruit teas are a great way for you to include your favorite sweet flavors of fruit in your diet without adding excessive sugars and preservatives that are commonly used to manufacture fruit juices, fruit-flavored foods etc.

Steeping a couple of bags of your favorite fruit tea mix in a hot water is a great way to enjoy those flavors without having to cheat your nutrition plan or messing up with your diet in general. I try to keep a variety of fruit teas in my pantry and whenever I am feeling like sweetening my day up in the afternoon, I brew myself a cup of mixed berry tea and relax! Give it a try!

✓ Herbal Tea

Herbal teas are a little different since they do not come from the tea leaves, rather than from plants, herbs or roots as the name implies. The compounds extracted from herbs can positively affect your body from helping with concentration, fighting nausea, protecting your immune system, and providing a wide array of antioxidants and minerals![3] Not only do herbal teas provide a great range of health benefiting compounds, they can also help with detoxifying your body and just making you feel better!

n

Take Home Message

Especially if you are not a big coffee drinker, tea consumption can be a great alternative to include in your daily regime and receive a variety of health benefits at the same time. I do enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, however, sometimes a good cup of tea is just much more useful than coffee. Quality tea will provide you with numerous health benefits that you can enjoy while drinking something tasty. Any grocery store will usually carry numerous tea types and brands so there are literally countless choices of tea you can choose from to select the kind you enjoy drinking!